ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An open government watchdog group is calling on the New Mexico Department of Justice to investigate the Bernalillo County Commission over the process to replace the retiring county manager. The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government says it has received several calls claiming three commissioners, Barbara Baca, Adriann Barboa, and Eric Olivas had a plan already in place before Tuesday’s meeting about selection committee members.
NMFOG says if true, that would be considered a rolling quorum which violates New Mexcio’s Open Meeting Act. The issue came to a head on Tuesday, when one commissioner, Steven Michael Quezada, stormed out of the meeting claiming his viewers were ignored. The plan still cleared the commission by a 3-1 vote with Commissioner Walt Benson voting no.
